Both military and civilian police and security personnel can encounter situations in which it is desirable to remotely inspect or handle dangerous or potentially dangerous items. For example, it may be desirable to inspect, handle, or work on objects in locations where it is not possible, or not desirable, to send a person. Remotely operated devices, such as remotely operated robots or unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) may be used in such situations. Throughout this disclosure, reference is made to a system for use with an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), with the understanding that such a platform is one exemplary embodiment in which a system of this disclosure may be used, and that the disclosed systems have broad applicability for use in other and different platforms.
UGVs commonly include an arm that has a gripper assembly, and a camera mounted on the arm or on the UGV platform itself. An operator located a safe distance away operates the UGV using a video feed from the camera to inspect or work on an object, using the arm and gripper assembly to move or otherwise access the item. In many cases the arm, as mentioned, has a gripper that may be used to grasp and rotate an object. In some situations, the gripper may hold another tool that may be useful in a particular situation, such as a probe for probing soil that may be used to cover a control line that could be used to detonate an explosive device. However, in many situations, it may be desirable to have another type of tool mounted to the arm. Such may be the case when a gripper assembly, or a tool held by the gripper assembly, would not be the most advantageous tool for a particular situation. For example, it may be desired to have a powered tool for a certain situation, such as a drill. Equipping a robotic arm with a different tool generally takes some time, which may not be desirable during high-stress and time-sensitive operations such as deactivation of explosive ordnance for example. Furthermore, in some cases an operator may not know the optimum tool for a particular job until an UGV is actually adjacent to the object of interest. Accordingly, providing options to an operator of such a remotely operated device would be useful.